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Saturday, 13 December 2014

So, I'm out of here, apart from one or two scheduled blitz's, I'll be gone until the New Year probably, since I need a break, it's been a rather weird year, but a mostly okay one for me, so just a quick note to say Merry Christmas and hope you all enjoy the holidays. :)

Seeing as I won't be back until then, I'm extending my Birthday/Christmas giveaway, so don't forget to enter!

4) Crashing a cart into a customer’s car right in front of her snarky coworker Sammi

3) Trying to rock the “drowned rat” look after being caught in a snowstorm

2) Making zero progress with her crush, Tyson (see #3)

1) Being accused—along with her fellow teenage employees—of stealing upwards of $10,000

Chloe would rather be anywhere than locked in work jail (aka the break room) with five of her coworkers . . . even if one of them is Tyson. But if they can band together to clear their names, what looks like a total disaster might just make Chloe’s list of Top Ten Best Moments

Top Ten Clues You're Clueless can be summed up in one
sentence. 6 Teen employees get accused of stealing the Christmas Charity Fund
and have to wait in store until the police get there. It's pretty simple. It's
not complicated stuff and the whole story is told within a few hours. There's
not a lot going on, and it plays like a heart-warming Christmas film, which is
why I'm surprised I liked it so much. I like Christmas as much as the next
person, but since Christmas films are on in November all the way up to
Christmas and New Year, I want to stab myself in the eye by the 25th, except
for Home Alone, I'll watch them every day. Which is why I don't usually read
anything festive, not that this is exactly an overly festive book, you can read
it at any time and it wouldn't make a difference, since it is set on Christmas
Eve, but it's not focused around that.

There's just something about Liz Czukas books that leave me
smiling all the way through, relatable characters and situations, realistic
characters and situations and something just so normal about the books that make them feel real.

Now, since In the style of Chloe, who likes making lists,
here's my Top Ten Reasons you should read Top Ten Clues You're Clueless.

Thursday, 11 December 2014

Callie Michaels isn’t pretty or popular, but her singing more than makes up for all she lacks. And as long as she focuses on what’s really important, she can survive high school. But how can she focus with all the drama? Between her best friend’s odd issues and a daily dose of weirdness from the social elite, she’s starting to wonder if she’s the only normal one around.He pulled the front door open. “That’s how it’s done.”I rolled my eyes and made my way through the crowd that had spilled into the hall, muttering. “That’s how it’s done. Yeah? Where? In the jungle?”“Yeah.” James’ breath on my nape sent a chill down my spine. “Something like that.”Just as her life begins spiraling out of control, the answer comes to her in a dream. In exchange for a token of blood, a demon will give her everything she desires. She says “yes.” From that point on, she finds herself changing, becoming something far from normal. Something dangerous.No one is what they seem—least of all her. While the supernatural creatures around her struggle to maintain their humanity, Callie slowly loses hers. She doesn’t even know what’s important anymore. Friendship, the future, love? And is there anyone who can make her care?

Natasha Rogue is a Canadian author who's been writing for most of her life. After penning novels behind math textbooks all through high school, she attended Dawson College in Creative Arts with dreams of becoming a screenwriter. The best teacher she ever had took her aside and told her to go back where she belonged. To her roots with the books she loved to write.

Eternal Neverland (Steps Before the Fall) was one of her first complete novels. There are seven books in draft form completed in the series, but they gathered dust until experience and contacts with the right editors and crit partners gave them what they needed to be shared. However, A Breed Apart: The Token, was released through a small press in 2012. The book will be rereleased shortly.

You may find Natasha at several signings throughout the year as she writes multiple genres. Don't worry, she doesn't bite. But she will happily chat with you about the hotties who do. And shamelessly admit to liking Charlie way more than she should.

Wednesday, 10 December 2014

Expected publication: June 9th 2015 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

In the third and final instalment in the Unknown Assassin trilogy, Boy Nobody is on the run from The Program and uncovers a secret about his past that forces him to decide where his loyalties lie.

The Program has sent Boy Nobody on countless missions, instructed to kill whichever target he was given. But now, after going rogue, he is on his own mission to rescue his friend Howard who was captured by The Program. Boy Nobody manages to free Howard as well as Tanya, a mysterious girl who was being held with him. Howard and Tanya help Boy Nobody collect information about his father, eventually revealing a dangerous secret that teaches Boy Nobody a valuable lesson -- he can't trust anyone.

Allen Zadoff packs the third book of the Unknown Assassin series with even more action, higher stakes, and mind-blowing reveals that will leave readers riveted﻿

I loved the previous two in the Unknown Assassin trilogy, fast paced, quick read, and I just love the way they're written, sad it's going to end though. :(

Tuesday, 9 December 2014

Beware the WildAuthor: Natalie C. ParkerPublication Date: October 21st 2014Publisher: HarperTeen~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

It's an oppressively hot and sticky morning in June when Sterling and her brother, Phin, have an argument that compels him to run into the town swamp -- the one that strikes fear in all the residents of Sticks, Louisiana. Phin doesn't return. Instead, a girl named Lenora May climbs out, and now Sterling is the only person in Sticks who remembers her brother ever existed.

Sterling needs to figure out what the swamp's done with her beloved brother and how Lenora May is connected to his disappearance -- and loner boy Heath Durham might be the only one who can help her.

This debut novel is full of atmosphere, twists and turns, and a swoon-worthy romance

Beware the Wild was everything I hoped and wanted The
Drowned Forest to be, enough strange to be charming, enough weird to be strange
and enough just is to not be
religious. There is religion, it's set in a very religious town, but it wasn't
exactly present in the story or focus of it. To which, I'm thankful of. It started off pretty quick, a lot quicker than I
was expecting, and maybe that's why it dipped in the middle a little, it
started the engine before you'd even shut the door, but it got me hooked so it
done its job, and I'm not faulting it on that. The story was great , and the
idea of it was fun, someone close to you disappearing and you being the only
one to remember them, and the fact that the whole town and their lives carrying
on as if that person never even existed, and in Sterling's case, having someone
replacing her brother- as a sister, It also very authentic to the setting.
But,I am however, faulting it on a few
things.

Monday, 8 December 2014

CompulsionAuthor: Martina BoonePublication Date: October 28th 2014 Publisher: Simon Pulse~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

Three plantations. Two wishes. One ancient curse.

All her life, Barrie Watson has been a virtual prisoner in the house where she lives with her shut-in mother. When her mother dies, Barrie promises to put some mileage on her stiletto heels. But she finds a new kind of prison at her aunt’s South Carolina plantation instead--a prison guarded by an ancient spirit who long ago cursed one of the three founding families of Watson Island and gave the others magical gifts that became compulsions.

Stuck with the ghosts of a generations-old feud and hunted by forces she cannot see, Barrie must find a way to break free of the family legacy. With the help of sun-kissed Eight Beaufort, who knows what Barrie wants before she knows herself, the last Watson heir starts to unravel her family's twisted secrets. What she finds is dangerous: a love she never expected, a river that turns to fire at midnight, a gorgeous cousin who isn’t what she seems, and very real enemies who want both Eight and Barrie dead.

Hmmm, I had high hopes for Compulsion, threefamilies, magic, gifts, a curse. A line that
goes back, a story that no one really knows but assume to. Dejá vu, anyone?
Compulsion is a story that's already been told, in a manner that isn't anything
new, but I was expecting and hoping
it would have a twist, something that sets it apart from its preceders.
Unfortunately, there wasn't.

Sunday, 7 December 2014

So, how was everybody's week? I'm getting into the holiday spirit a little. It's been cold, but I want it to snow! Snow please. Then it'll feel all Christmas-y. Anybody like The Veronicas? I've been listening to the new album non-stop for the past two weeks, love it.

Friday, 5 December 2014

Snow Like AshesAuthor: Sara RaaschPublication Date: December 4th 2014Publisher: Harper Collins~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

A heartbroken girl. A fierce warrior. A hero in the making.

Sixteen years ago the Kingdom of Winter was conquered and its citizens enslaved, leaving them without magic or a monarch. Now, the Winterians’ only hope for freedom is the eight survivors who managed to escape, and who have been waiting for the opportunity to steal back Winter’s magic and rebuild the kingdom ever since.

Orphaned as an infant during Winter’s defeat, Meira has lived her whole life as a refugee, raised by the Winterians’ general, Sir. Training to be a warrior—and desperately in love with her best friend, and future king, Mather — she would do anything to help her kingdom rise to power again.

So when scouts discover the location of the ancient locket that can restore Winter’s magic, Meira decides to go after it herself. Finally, she’s scaling towers, fighting enemy soldiers, and serving her kingdom just as she’s always dreamed she would. But the mission doesn’t go as planned, and Meira soon finds herself thrust into a world of evil magic and dangerous politics – and ultimately comes to realize that her destiny is not, never has been, her own

The similarities to the Throne of Glass series are there,
I'm not going to lie. But it's the same with other genres, things are always
going to be familiar, and I guess with Snow Like Ashes and binge reading the
Throne of Glass series over a week ago, It took me a good 30% to get into it. I
wouldn't say it's better or less than Throne of Glass, because in a way they
are similar, they're also not.

Thursday, 4 December 2014

On the EdgeAuthor: Allison van DiepenPublication Date: November 25th 2014 by Publisher: HarperCollins ~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

From Allison van Diepen, author of Snitch and Street Pharm, comes a sexy, dangerous novel about a teen who witnesses a murder and gets caught up in the seedy world of Miami’s gangs.

Maddie Diaz never should have taken that shortcut through the park. If she hadn't, she wouldn't have seen two members of the Reyes gang attacking a homeless man. Now, as the only witness, she knows there’s a target on her back.

But when the Reyes jump her on the street, Maddie is protected by a second gang and their secretive leader, Lobo, who is determined to take down the Reyes himself. Lobo is mysterious and passionate, and Maddie begins to fall for him. But when they live this close to the edge, can their love survive?

On the Edge is a compelling story about fighting for what’s right and figuring out where you belong. The novel showcases a gritty, realistic voice and earth–shattering romance that will intrigue readers of Simone Elkeles and Paul Griffin and captivate fans of Allison van Diepen's other novels.

On the Edge really surprised me, I didn't think it would
totally be for me since it is to do with gangs and all that lovely stuff, and
really, I watch enough of that on TV since I watch every type of Cop shows out
there, right now I'm pretty addicted to Chicago PD, which, if you haven't seen
it, is one of the best portrayals of blurred lines I've seen, in my opinion,
especially when it comes to Voight.. But, reading about it? I usually find them
cheesy, I don't know why, but it's the same with music and art in books that
just do for me. But, YES. I freaking loved it.

Whispers From The Dead is the powerful and thrilling sequel to Lamb to the Slaughter, in the Amish mystery series, Serenity’s Plain Secrets.

Sheriff Serenity Adams and Daniel Bachman are once again partnered up in a criminal investigation, when they travel to a northern Amish settlement that has been riddled by arsons for the past two decades. Serenity quickly discovers that there is much more going on than just barns being set on fire in the touristy community, and that the new group of Amish has their own secrets to hide. She begins to unravel an extensive criminal underworld that threatens to destroy everything that the simple people of Poplar Springs hold dear and once again puts her own life in jeopardy.

And even though Serenity tries desperately to avoid it, things begin heating up between her and Daniel, making her wonder if true love and happiness are really within her grasp.

Tuesday, 2 December 2014

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 22...and thanks Taylor Swift, I've been dying to say that all year. It's December, which is my birthday month, and you know, Christmas, but whatever, IT'S MY BIRTHDAY. SOON. SOTHEREWILLBEAGIVEAWAY. I was planning to go back to the WB Harry Potter Studio Tour, but the best thing I've learned about having a birthday so close to Christmas is, to not plan anything. They usually get ruined, either because of ice on the roads, snowing or raining. I love snow, I do, but going to see 30 Seconds to Mars with boots is a problem. Ask Amber.

I was going to post this up on the 23rd, but I'm on hiatus then so thought I'd run it now up until the 29th, when I'll be back.

The Biodome has been liberated, the slaves are now free, and a new democratic government has been formed. Yet tensions between the Pit and the Dome have never been higher. With the disappearance of Senator Jack Kenner, the old regime makes a political move to reestablish their government.In the third book of the Sunset Rising trilogy, Sunny O’Donnell is determined to find Jack and bring him home. With the high-tech assistance of Doc, Sunny teams up with Summer, Reyes and friends from the Nation and sets out into a lawless post apocalyptic world in search of the kidnapped men. But as the ruthlessness of the recruiters unfolds amidst the discovery of betrayals within their own group, friends will become enemies and enemies will become friends on a journey that will end in a New World Order.

Monday, 1 December 2014

CaptiveAuthor: Aimee CarterPublication Date: November 25th 2014 Publisher: Harlequin Teen~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

For the past two months, Kitty Doe's life has been a lie. Forced to impersonate the Prime Minister's niece, her frustration grows as her trust in her fake fiancé cracks, her real boyfriend is forbidden and the Blackcoats keep her in the dark more than ever.

But in the midst of discovering that her role in the Hart family may not be as coincidental as she thought, she's accused of treason and is forced to face her greatest fear: Elsewhere. A prison where no one can escape.

As one shocking revelation leads to the next, Kitty learns the hard way that she can trust no one, not even the people she thought were on her side. With her back against the wall, Kitty wants to believe she'll do whatever it takes to support the rebellion she believes in—but is she prepared to pay the ultimate price?

Bear with me, I'm probably going to ramble. It's pretty
simple. One word. Whoa. Aimee Carter
has stepped up her game in Captive, no doubt. Don't get me wrong, I loved Pawn,
but I was a little worried wondering where it would go from the ending, I
didn't want it to be the same thing, in the same position, but it so wasn't. Captive
has brought it's gloves and the action starts straight away with a lot of whoa moments and doesn't hold back the
punches.